Man convicted of rape in Faroe Islands seeks leniency from Eastern Supreme Court

A man who was convicted of rape in the Faroe Islands is seeking a more lenient sentence than the one handed down by the district court. His case is set to be reviewed today by the Eastern Supreme Court.

The man, in his early twenties, was sentenced to 18 months of unconditional imprisonment in May 2023. He was charged and found guilty of forcing a peer into oral sex in a restroom at a bar in Tórshavn on March 10 of this year. He maintains his innocence but has not appealed the district court’s guilty verdict.

The prosecution initially demanded a two-year sentence and plans to request the same in the Supreme Court.

As a foreign national, the man has been expelled from the Faroe Islands and is prohibited from re-entering for ten years. He was placed in custody after receiving his sentence in the district court, where he remains.

The man was convicted under the law stipulating that sex requires consent. Under previous laws, he would have faced a sentence of less than a year.